


Excursions

by thefalloutalleyouthzone



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Zosan, M/M, MarimoCookWeek2018, Time Travel, zosanweek2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 19:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16625342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefalloutalleyouthzone/pseuds/thefalloutalleyouthzone
Summary: “Are you okay?”The kindness in the person’s voice confused him. Sanji slowly opened his eyes, cautious of what he would see.There wasn’t a person in front of him, rather a racoon dog. It had a pink and blue hat on and some funny ears poking out of it.No, antlers.It was a reindeer.“Are you hurt?”He couldn’t fend off the shock on his face when he heard the reindeer talk. Mouth gaping, he stared at the creature for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. It was an answer he was always told to give and didn’t want to face the consequences of admitting that he wasn’t. This could be a trick played by his brothers after all.





	Excursions

**Author's Note:**

> title inspiration: excursions by keaton henson (poem)
> 
> day 5 prompt for marimocook week 2018

They came for him again.

 

They dragged him out of his cell like always, unlocked his helmet and punched him in the face until it became incredibly numb and there was no more blood left to spill. Then, they forced his helmet back on, squeezing his swollen cheeks into the cold, metal headgear and kicked him back into his cell. His legs wobbled as he walked, moving away from the light and keeping to the dark- he could pretend he didn’t have any bruises then since he couldn’t see them.

 

_ “You’re a failure that deserves to die, right, Sanji?” _

 

This happened on a regular occurrence. He would always silently cry and rock himself to sleep until the pain became bearable once more. Slowly, he was getting used to the torment. He was getting used to having a heavy helmet over his head at all times. He was getting used to the neglect.

 

He was getting used to it all.

 

But still, he wished that he could escape. He would find himself lying down on the hard, cold floor, looking up through the helmet’s razor, pretending he was looking at a clouded sky or a starry night and not a miserable stoned-ceiling. He would close his eyes and pretend he could hear the sound of the wind rustling the grass beneath him, or the sound of birds chirping in a tree in the distance. He would take a deep breath, and pretend he was tasting that salty, sea air he deeply missed. 

 

But then, he’d take another breath and taste the musk he hadn’t escaped from in months and reality would come crashing down on him. The birds and the wind would be replaced by the sound of absolute silence; he would no longer be able to feel the grass grazing his fingertips but the feel the coldness of stone instead. 

 

Tonight was no different. He crawled up into his spot and started to rock. He cried and he cried and he cried, but it never felt like it was enough. He should learn to defend himself, but he didn’t know how to. He hated how he was born weaker than the others, but he couldn’t help it.

He grew to regret his outlandish acts- cooking when it wasn’t his place to cook; giving rotten food to his mother despite the fact she said it was delicious. 

 

He missed her so so much. 

 

He closed his eyes, wishing he could wake up someplace else just like he did every night. 

 

It never worked. 

 

He hugged himself tighter and hoped the nightmares wouldn’t be as bad.

  
  


***

 

The first thing Sanji noticed that was different, was the rocking. He was so used to rocking himself that when it was the floor rocking instead, the sensation immediately woke him up. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and noticed it was still dark, yet more light was trickling into his cell. 

 

He frowned. There was never this much furniture in his cell before.

 

He waited for his eyes to adjust to the light to get a better look, but he honestly didn’t recognise where he was. There were no bars in the room he was in, but a door instead. There was also a bed, similar to the one his mother had to stay in when she was ill, and a desk, with lots of differently-shaped bottles, lined up along it; strange things he had never seen before.

 

He was about to move across the room when he heard a noise from outside. A light shined through the porthole window of the door and he could hear the sound of footsteps coming closer. He panicked and hid behind the end of the bed, tucking himself into a ball like he had done so many times before, in order to stop his brothers kicking his stomach. 

 

Sanji held his breath as the door opened, Closing his eyes, he counted to 10, wincing as he could hear the sound of the footsteps getting louder and louder. They weren’t as loud as his father’s, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

 

He couldn’t open his eyes, he was too scared to look.

 

He heard a gasp as the person came round the side of the bed and noticed him. He clenched his eyes shut further, hoping whoever it was, they wouldn’t punish him for being out of his cell.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

The kindness in the person’s voice confused him. Sanji slowly opened his eyes, cautious of what he would see. 

 

There wasn’t a person in front of him, rather a racoon dog. It had a pink and blue hat on and some funny ears poking out of it.

No, antlers. 

It was a reindeer. 

 

“Are you hurt?” 

 

He couldn’t fend off the shock on his face when he heard the reindeer talk. Mouth gaping, he stared at the creature for a couple of seconds before shaking his head. It was an answer he was always told to give and didn’t want to face the consequences of admitting that he wasn’t. This could be a trick played by his brothers after all. 

 

The reindeer moved ever so slightly closer to him, reaching out. He saw a hoove move towards his helmet and waited for it to hit against the metal, giving off a loud bang. It never happened. Instead, the reindeer tugged at it, as if it were trying to get it off. It was strange, surely everyone that knew about him also knew you had to use a key to open it. 

 

The reindeer pulled back and looked at him funny. It slowly backed away and told him it’ll be okay, before running out of the door it had come through.

 

Sanji started to panic, wondering if he was going to bring his father to wherever he was. He looked for a way out or anything he could hide under but came to the conclusion it was no use. The reindeer will know he didn’t travel very far and he would be captured at some point. So he did the next best thing and closed his eyes, waiting for it all to be over.

 

Sanji wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the door opened again. With his heart beating hard against his rib cage, it felt like it had been mere seconds. He pinched his eyes tighter together and waiting for the booming voice of his father to pierce through his chest as he heard the door opening and the rush of more footsteps than before.

Yet it didn’t come. It was a woman’s voice instead.

 

“Oh my!”

 

Out of curiosity, Sanji opened his eyes and looked through his razor. In front of him, was the group of extremely strange and bizarre people. There was a woman crouching down closest to him with long, flowing orange hair. She had a mark on the top of her arm and was wearing a shorter top than his mother ever worn, but she looked beautiful. He would have stared at her for longer if he knew it wasn’t rude. Behind her was another woman, with long but dark hair. She was also extremely pretty, wearing a short dress. 

The rest of the people seemed to be strong men. The reindeer was hiding, or trying to hide but failing, behind the leg of a man along the right side of the room. He was wearing a jumpsuit and had an afro-styled bun, but his most promising feature was his incredibly long nose. He was standing in front of what could only be described as a robot and a skeleton; their large and tall forms took up the majority of the room, making Sanji’s mouth drop open again because he didn’t think robots were actually real. 

 

One of the other figures out of his peripheral vision stepped closer. Sanji glanced his way and saw the man had a peculiar straw hat on his head, he crouched down on the same level as the orange-haired woman and looked at him like his father would before telling him off, which was all the time.

 

“Are you here to steal my meat?”

 

Everyone around him sighed as if they had been anticipating that very question.

 

Sanji blinked a few times, wondering what kind of a question was that. The man looked extremely serious when asking, so Sanji made sure to shake his rapidly in case he wasn’t quick enough with the answer.

 

The man in the straw hat continued to frown at him, but then suddenly a big smile grew on his face. “That’s alright then. Nice to meet ya, I’m Luffy.”

 

Sanji stared back in amazement. He wasn’t sure what to do.

 

“What’s your name, sweetie?” The orange-haired woman was talking now, the other woman must have spoken before. She inched a tiny bit closer and Sanji couldn’t help but noticed the softness of her voice was similar to how his mother spoke. 

 

Sanji looked over the group of people again and noticed two more people standing on the left side of the room. There were two men, standing side-by-side. One was incredibly huge and had his chest exposed, a gigantic scar running across it. He had another big scar running along his left eye and three swords dangling from his hip.

But the wasn’t what struck him the most. His hair did. It was green. An extremely vibrant green, just like his brother’s. 

He quickly looked away.

 

He shifted his eyes and felt a strange sensation as he laid eyes on the last person in the room. He was in a suit, a cigarette dangling from his lips unlit. He had blonde hair, like Sanji, and a curly eyebrow, like Sanji. He was exposing his left side rather than his right though. He didn’t particularly like that one which is why he asked his mother’s nurse to hide it with his hair, but it seemed that the blonde-haired man didn’t mind it.

 

It looked exactly the same though. 

 

He continued to stare at it when he realised the man was mouthing something in his direction. He brought his eyes to his lips and watched them mouth the words “don’t say”.

 

Feeling a connection with the man with the same curly eyebrow, he looked back at the woman and sadly shook his head. She seemed like a lovely lady but there was a look in that man’s eyes of sheer panic and it was something he recognised in himself.

 

“You can’t remember?” The man with the afro bun was speaking to him this time. He decided it was best to shake his head again.

 

Suddenly the reindeer was back in his face. He was frantically looking at the helmet, trying to figure out how to take it off. 

“Oh my god, we need to take this thing off if it’s affecting his memory. I can’t do much else without it on.”

 

“I’ll slice it off.” Sanji looked around to see who had said that and saw the green-haired man pull out a sword. He panicked when he saw it glisten under the moonlight and curled up even more tightly than before. 

 

“Don’t do that you big brute.” It was the blonde man speaking, he was sure of it. “Listen, I think there are way too many people in here and we’re overcrowding him. I think we should all leave and let one or two people stay and talk to him.”

 

Sanji could hear more murmur, sounding like they were in agreement. He peaked a look out of his ball and saw the man with the straw hat staring at him funny. 

 

“Oi Sanji, he has the same eyebrow as you!”

 

Sanji froze. They already knew his name.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Luffy.” The blonde man again.

Wait, is he also called Sanji? The one that looks exactly like him? 

Sanji glanced over to him and saw panic in the man’s eyes again. It wasn’t like how he looked when he was panicking, that mostly led to tears, but he could instantly tell what emotion the man was feeling; why is that?

 

“Cook, are you hiding something?” 

 

Sanji looked back at the swordsman and saw him staring at the blonde man. The blonde turned to him and faced each other for what felt like a long time. Sanji figured they must have been communicating with each other with their minds. It wouldn’t be the craziest thing on the ship with a talking reindeer, a robot, and a skeleton on board. 

 

“No marimo, I just don’t wanna scare him. He looks like he’s had enough torment from wherever he came from.” 

 

Marimo? What kind of name was that?

 

Sanji did agree with.. the other Sanji? Cook? He wasn’t sure. But he didn’t want this dream or whatever it was to stop. That would mean going back to his cell.

He continued to watch the two men as they continued their telepathic conversation, teeth gritted for the swordsman and mouth snarling for the blonde. It seemed like the other people in the room weren’t particularly bothered by it, with the pretty women both rolling their eyes.

 

“Okay boys, Sanji-kun has a fair point. Who should stay and talk to hi-“

 

“Sanji should talk to Sanji of course!”

 

Everyone in the room looked at the man with the straw hat dumbfoundedly. Sanji looked at him amazed he knew his name.

 

“Luffy you can’t call him Sanji just because you think they have similar eyebrows!” The orange-haired lady replied.

 

“Yeah, but how many other people do you know with a curly eyebrow? Just makes sense.” The man grinned widely.

 

“I’ll talk to him if the captain wants me to.” The blonde man replied.

 

Captain? Was he on a ship? Sanji looked back over to the man with the straw hat and softly smiled. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have a captain like him.

 

“I’m staying too,” Marimo replied. That got an angry look out of the blonde man, but he said nothing and Sanji found it peculiar they were acting like that. It was aggressive with one another, but nothing like the way his father acted.

 

He wondered how much trouble he’d get for leaving his cell.

The small smile dropped from his face and he rested the cold helmet against his knees.

 

“I think you’re right Luffy.” Sanji looked back up at the dark-haired lady speaking. “Let Cook-san stay with the boy, but I don’t think Swordman-san should. I think one person is plenty.” 

 

Marimo had an expression on his face that he recognised when disappointing his father so many times. He didn’t want want to upset anyone else. “H-he can stay.”

 

They all looked at Sanji as he sat trembling from finally speaking. He took in a deep breath, waiting to be scolded for talking out of turn. Marimo looked quizzically at him and nodded. He assumed it was his way of saying thank you.

 

The blonde scratched his head and sighed. “Okay then, marimo stays. Chopper, go with him to fetch some blankets and a glass of water and grab some food too. There are some leftovers in the refrigerator. I’ll.. tell him a bit about ourselves while you’re doing that.”

 

Sanji watched as the others walked out of the room without a fuss. They were all so different from the people who worked for his father, making him wish that it really wasn’t a dream and people like them did exist in the world. He turned his head back to the blonde who had gone back to telepathically talking to Marimo, with their foreheads close to touching each other. Marimo stormed out afterwards, leaving Sanji and.. the other Sanji alone.

 

The blonde took his cigarette out of his mouth and put it behind his ear. He went over to the desk and got out a metal pin. He walked on over to Sanji and crouched down.

 

“You probably have a lot of questions you’re too scared to ask.” The man scoffed. “I’m not sure how you’re even here… but I can take the helmet off for you.”

Sanji nodded frantically. He hadn’t been able to leave it, even when sleeping or eating, so he was going to take the opportunity to say yes even when it’s in a dream.

 

The man asked him to turn around and he did, eager to see properly for once. He closed his eyes as he heard the man wiggling the pin around, trying to pick the lock. Relief washed over him when he heard a satisfying click at the back of the helmet and felt the bottom of it drop loosely. The man slowly pulled off the helmet, taking great care in not letting it hit against his ears. 

 

“There you are… Sanji.” Sanji gasped, the man did know his name! How was that possible? He looked back up at the blonde man and saw him looking so sad, as sad as Sanji felt. He thought about comforting the man; there was something that about him that reminded him of his mother. There was a lot of kindness within him and yet he was struggling to keep it together in front of his friends, even though they themselves didn't realise.

The man sat down on the floor and extended his arms, gesturing for Sanji to come closer. He leaned in and felt the man’s arms wrapped tightly around him, capturing him in a fierce hug. 

 

“I’m so sorry.”

 

Sanji felt tears building up in his eyes. He wasn’t sure what the man was apologising for, but he became overwhelmed with sadness. He clung onto the man’s shirt as he continued to talk. “I know how alone you feel right now, but everything will work out in the end. You’ll find someone to take great care of you, and you’ll end up finding a real family soon after. Just hang in there, Sanji.”

 

Sanji was too shocked at the man’s words. How did he know how he felt? Why was he so certain it would get better for him? Surely if he knew what he was going through then he would know there’s no escape for him? 

He thought back to how the man in the straw hat had called them both Sanji. 

 

Could this be his life in the future?

 

Sanji shook his head and ignored that silly idea. He pulled back and looked into the man’s eyes again. He could see his face reflecting back and a small smile creeping on the man’s lips. His eyes looked so much like his mother’s that it felt like he was back in her arms again just after he had made her such an awful lunch, but she had still eaten it anyway. 

He wasn’t sure what he should say to the man, whether this was him dreaming of his future or not, but he buried his face into the man’s chest and cried, letting out everything he had felt in the past six months as he had sat alone in his cell. The arms around him gripped even tighter and he felt the man rest his chin on the top of his head.

 

They sat like that for a while, appreciating the other’s embrace.

  
  


***

 

To say Sanji had been shocked when he entered the infirmary and saw his younger self in the thing he’d detested for such a long time was an understatement. He furiously panicked, wondering how on earth he would have to explain everything to the crew, how they would never trust him again. His past had finally caught up to him after he had run away from it for so long. How? He didn’t know but he had anxiously stood with the rest of his crew as they tried to figure out the mysterious boy that eerily looked like their cook.

 

He just hoped they didn’t figure it out.

 

Robin seemed to know something. Of course, her beautiful mind could work out the most difficult puzzles so he didn’t put it past her to have already figured  _ something  _ out. He just wasn’t sure what her deduction was. He was grateful when she backed up his argument for him to be left alone with his younger self, even if she wasn’t aware that was who the kid was.

Luffy’s comment of Sanji talking to Sanji had panicked him the most. Of course, his idiot captain had managed to hit the nail on the head, but the others didn’t seem to think that and to be honest, neither did the captain himself. Zoro seemed to suspect him, giving him a cold look, but he wasn’t in the mood to put up with the moss-head’s antics. He had been surprised at his younger self’s request to let Zoro stay; maybe he had felt sorry for him.

 

The swordsman barged back into the room with a glass of water, leftovers, and some blankets as his younger self started to fall asleep in his arms.

 

Zoro cut straight to the chase. “You gonna explain why this boy looks like you or am I gonna have to cut you to get it out?”

 

“First of all, idiot, he’s just fallen asleep, don’t wake him up.” Sanji angrily whispered, stroking his younger self’s hair. “Second of all, I would explain but I’m not sure you’d believe me.” It wasn’t like this thing had happened before, Sanji didn’t really understand it himself.

 

“Try me.”

 

Of course, the marimo’s arrogance shone through then. Sanji sighed and rolled his eyes. “Okay well, this is me when I was a kid, happy?”

 

“Don’t fuck with me cook, who did you knock up?”

 

Sanji scoffed. He really didn’t need to worry about the others figuring out this was the past he had kept from them. To be perfectly honest, it didn’t even cross his mind that his younger self would be perceived as his son. Probably from the fact that he hadn’t slept with as many women as the crew thought he had and they were too far away now for a potential son of his to reach him.

 

He looked up at Zoro and saw the anger in his eye. He didn’t think the brute could easily get caught up with silly ideas in his head, but it was clear from his reaction that he thought Sanji had been sleeping around.

 

Idiot.

 

Still, it was probably good from him to be suspicious- especially when he eventually finds out what his past was.

 

“Trust me when I say this Zoro, he isn’t my son.”

 

Zoro frowned. “How do you explain the similar eyebrow then?”

 

Sanji swallowed. He wasn’t sure if he should continue trying to explain this was himself because Zoro hadn’t brought it the first time and if he did eventually believe him, he would be thrown a bunch of questions he really didn’t want to answer. But he couldn’t think of anything else to explain the kid in his arms.

 

Sanji sighed again, dreading what was about to come. “Sit down next to me, marimo.”

 

Zoro stood there for a moment thinking, but he obliged. He put the glass of water, leftovers, and blankets on the desk and walked on over. He propped himself down next to Sanji, looking down curiously at the boy in his arms.

 

“I wasn’t joking when I said this was me, Zoro.” Sanji started, looking at the wall as he couldn’t bring himself to look at his crewmate. “This was me, before I met Zeff, before I worked at the Baratie. I don’t know how he’s here, he should be somewhere far, far away from where we are, but he is. And I can only give him the comfort that he deserves with the shit he’s been through.” Images of his family flashed in front of him and he closed his eyes, allowing his past to consume his thoughts.

 

“Why was he in a helmet before?” Sanji was a little shocked at Zoro’s question, causing him to open his eyes again and look at the marimo. He could see a lot of confusion written across his face, questions he was dying to ask, but he was holding it all back.

 

“Because he… he was being tortured.” Sanji choked. 

 

Zoro’s eye widened at Sanji’s confession, taking in what was being said. He looked down at the younger Sanji in his arms and watched him closely. 

 

A few moments past before Zoro spoke again. “You don’t want to tell me what happened, do you cook?”

 

Sanji closed his eyes, tears brimming. A wave of relief washed over him as he heard Zoro’s question. The swordsman might get himself completely lost all the time, but he wasn’t an idiot when it came to understanding people and how they worked, including his crew. He could tell Sanji was hesitant when opening up the tiniest bit to him and knew not to press any further. Sure, the rest of the crew might be able to do the same, but it meant a lot more coming from Zoro.

 

“No… I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to tell you about that part of my life yet.”

 

Zoro simply nodded. He flickered his eyes between the two Sanji’s as if he was studying their features. 

 

“Do you want me to go?” 

 

Sanji shook his head. 

 

“Okay.” 

 

Sanji frowned when Zoro got up but realised what he was doing when he reached for a blanket. He draped one over Sanji’s shoulder, making sure it was covering the younger Sanji in his arms, and brought the other side of it over himself, allowing Sanji to lean against him.

His younger self seemed to identify another presence in his sleep and reached out to cling onto Zoro’s haramaki. 

 

Zoro slyly smiled at this. “Hey, it really is you. He clings to me in his sleep too!”

 

Sanji made sure to kick Zoro’s shin for that comment. “Bastard. It’s because you’re like a fucking furnace.” 

 

“You tell that to yourself, cook. I bet your younger self wouldn’t be embarrassed to express his love for me.”

 

“Ha! In your wildest dreams, marimo!”

 

Zoro licked his lips. “Hmm, you do do that in my wildest dreams though.”

 

Sanji made sure to cover up his younger self’s ears, even though he was fast asleep and had a foul mouth of his own. “Idiot. Don’t say that shit around him. He needs to despise you when he first meets you, not get feelings because your shitty future self implied something else.”

 

Zoro just chuckled at Sanji’s panicked voice. “He’s a kid, does he even know about the birds and the bees yet? Please tell me you weren’t perverted as a kid as well.”

 

“No, of course not!” Sanji hissed. 

 

Zoro looked up at Sanji, satisfied at how annoying he was being. He changed his tune though, with his next sentence. “When he wakes up and tastes your food, he won’t know what’s hit him. What if you are your own inspiration?”

 

Sanji looked down at himself again, perplexed at what the marimo was saying. He wasn’t sure how to explain it to his younger self, but he figured he would think he was dreaming it all up. He did have a very creative imagination when he was a kid to keep himself from going insane when he was locked up in his cell. 

 

Zoro and Sanji continued to watch the younger Sanji’s chest rise and fall in his deep sleep, both softly looking down at him when a small smile spread across his lips.

 

***

 

Zoro wasn’t particularly over the moon when the younger Sanji decided to move from the cook’s lap to his own in the early hours of the morning. They hadn’t moved an inch for hours, all three of them had fallen asleep, until the kid decided to cling onto Zoro’s arm for dear life and pull himself over onto his lap, waking him up. The cook also stirred awake and saw it as an opportunity to go and start making breakfast. He mumbled to Zoro something about the leftovers and left him there, completely stuck. It didn’t particularly help that was when his bladder kicked in and told him to relieve himself, but he honestly couldn’t move. 

 

Typical of the cook to inconvenience him, even when he’s a child.

 

He didn’t have to wait long, however, before young Sanji woke up. 

He felt the boy stiffen against him, obviously confused by where he was. He immediately let go of Zoro’s arm and placed both hands on his head, grabbing a fistful of hair. Zoro frowned. It was something he’d seen the cook do many times (and he himself had also done a handful of times to the cook), but he didn’t realise it was a habit that was so  _ engraved _ into him. He figured it was a nervous tick he got from smoking so much that helped to relieve him of built up stress. However, younger Sanji looked satisfied when doing it in that instant, appreciating he could pull his hair. It was a look Zoro was extremely familiar with and it shocked him how little the man has changed since he was a child. 

 

It then occurred to Zoro why younger Sanji was so fascinated at pulling his hair. He shifted his eyes to the desk and looked at the helmet still laying there.

 

He looked down at him again and felt his heart twinge. It had taken Sanji and Zoro a long time to open up about their pasts, the ones that Luffy knew at least. Starving on a rock for over 80 days was already something, so it made his blood boil to know the cook had gone through something even before that. The kid looked weak and vulnerable when they found him, something the man was no longer but it must have taken a lot for him to get over whatever he had been going through back then.

 

His admiration for his crewmate grew even more.

 

Young Sanji seemed to realise where he was then, or more specifically, who’s lap he was on. He nearly fell from Zoro’s lap when he looked up at him.

 

Zoro sighed. This was going to be tricky.

 

He decided to talk to the boy to give him some reassurance. “Oi, you’re safe.”

 

Sanji’s wide eyes blinked in confusion. “I’m still here?”

 

Zoro nodded.

 

The kid shifted to look around, still sitting in his lap, which actually made Zoro’s bladder scream again. He hoped the cook would hurry the fuck up so he could go and relieve himself.

 

“Where did the kind man go?”

 

Zoro’s eye widened. The fact that Sanji’s younger-self saw him as kind proved he was doing something right. “He went to go cook breakfast, but there’s some food over there if you’re hungry now.”

 

The kid nodded. 

 

Zoro picked the young Sanji up and placed him on the bed. He’d have words with the cook later about why they couldn’t have slept there instead of the floor given it would have been a lot more comfortable than leaning against it. He walked on over to the desk and picked up the leftovers. It was onigiri, Zoro’s favourite. It was a simple meal, but he’d be lying if Zoro said they weren’t to die for. Luckily he could lie to Sanji though because he didn’t need his ego boosted anymore. 

 

He handed it over to the soon-to-be cook and waited for his reaction.

 

The kid took a bite off of the top and his face immediately lit up. He looked up at Zoro and smiled, which made the swordsman’s heart swell like it always did when the cook smiled at him. His face grew hot little, feeling unworthy of such a smile as he should be given it to his older self. 

 

“Thank you, Marimo!”

 

Zoro stiffened. His immediate reaction was to shout back at him but the kid said it with so much confidence, it seemed like he actually thought it was his name. He aggressively cursed at the cook in his head.

 

“Oi, that’s not my name.”

 

“Then why did the kind man call you that?”

 

“Because he thinks he’s funny,” Zoro mumbled.

 

Young Sanji frowned. “So is it like a nickname?”

 

Zoro gritted his teeth. “... In a way. But he doesn’t do it out of his kindness. It’s name calling really.”

 

That brought some sadness back in young Sanji’s eyes. “Oh. Do you not get along then?”

 

Zoro sighed again. Where the fuck was the cook? He didn’t want to have to explain the complexity of their relationship to Sanji’s young self. He probably shouldn’t be talking to him period; it seemed impossible that him talking to a young Sanji wasn’t going to impact on future events. 

 

The kid had Sanji’s eyes though, and if he believed in a god, they’d be laughing at him right now at the idea he could resist their effect on him.

 

“We do get along, but it’s complicated. We aggravate each other until one of us breaks and starts a full-on fight. It’s usually him that breaks first,” Sanji frowned as though he could see through the lie, “but we always end it okay.” Zoro was extremely pleased with himself as he had kept the explanation child-friendly, leaving out the ‘fucking each other into oblivion’ part. 

 

Sanji continued to eat as he listened to the explanation. He was trying to be polite by not rushing his food, but Zoro could tell he wanted to devour it in one go. 

 

Zoro looked down and smiled, loving how he was learning so much about the cook. 

 

“So.. the kind man, he can defend himself from someone like you?”

 

Zoro looked back up and felt a shift with young Sanji’s mood. He was back to being vulnerable again and it scared the swordsman a little. 

 

“Yeah, he’s my equal,” Zoro replied effortlessly.

 

Sanji’s eyes widened whilst Zoro furrowed his brows. Did he know who the cook was? Had he caught on?

 

“What’s wrong?” 

 

Young Sanji shook his head. “Nothing… I just… would like to be like him one day. If he can take you on in a fight that is and he made this delicious food.” 

 

Zoro wanted to laugh at how ironic the whole thing was. He had been right when talking to the cook hours before; Sanji’s younger self wanted to be like his older self in the future. 

 

“What’s stopping you from trying?”

 

Sanji looked down at the bed, shoulders hunched up. “I’m weak.”

 

“Being able to get yourself on a pirate ship in the middle of the night is not weak.” Zoro walked on over and sat down next to the kid.

 

“But my brothers…”

 

Brothers? Sanji had brothers? 

 

“What about your brothers?”

 

Zoro watched as Sanji’s face crumpled. He then started to panic when the tears fell from the boy’s eyes. “I’m so much weaker than them… my father...”

 

Zoro wasn’t sure what to do. He’d comforted Chopper a bunch of times but this was different. This was a young Sanji opening up to him like his Sanji had never done before.

 

He cleared his throat, trying to figure out what to say. 

 

“Listen,” he began, “When the world shoves you around, you just gotta stand up and shove back. It's not like somebody's gonna save you if you start babbling excuses… being strong isn’t about having power or move, it’s about one’s spirit... And I know for a fact you have plenty of it.” Zoro was impressed at how fast he conjured that up. In all honesty, it was things he had said in the past to different people, but it still applied to the situation at hand. 

 

Young Sanji looked down again, taking in the words. “How do you know I have a lot of it? You don’t even know me.”

 

“I do, Sanji.” This got a gasp out of the boy, it even shocked Zoro himself, hearing him say the cook’s name out loud. “I know you very well. You’re gonna grow into a great man…” Zoro could feel the cook’s presence behind the infirmary’s door, so he made sure to look through the porthole then, staring back at him. “And you’ll even be a greater human being than me sometimes.”

 

He looked down at young Sanji again and was met with a dazed look. Zoro didn’t like the tension building in the room, so made sure to throw a daft comment in. “Maybe straighten your eyebrows though.”

 

Sanji laughed, worries seemed to have dispersed. “At least my hair isn’t green.”

 

Zoro narrowed his eyes at him, trying to spike fear into the boy before it was too late and he remembered all of this years later when they meet again on the Baratie.

 

“He’s right, at least he’s not a moss-headed idiot like you.” The cook finally entered the room, holding some more food which made younger Sanji’s face lit up. He looked at Zoro, saying nothing and yet also saying everything. 

 

Zoro stood up, wanting to leave before his Sanji figured out his younger version had given him a hint of what his past was truly like. From what he gathered, his family were scum, and after hearing the fear in young Sanji’s voice, it didn’t take much to figure out who was currently torturing him. 

 

He needed to do some reps to cool his anger down.

 

Zoro walked out, glad he could also finally take a piss, but stopped to look back at the boy that will grow into the man he’ll come to cherish deeply and nodded at him. 

 

The boy made sure to smile widely back.

  
  


***

 

When Sanji woke up again, he was back in the place he dreaded the most. He was no longer on the merry ship filled with such kindness and love, where the captain turned out to be a rubber goofball and the robot was actually a cyborg with different hairstyles, (which was even cooler than a robot). The skeleton had been nice too and offered to play a few songs in honour of him temporary joining the crew. The reindeer had been the most fun to play with and the women had made sure he was enjoying himself. They both kept checking up on him and when he had looked over at the other Sanji watching him interact with the two, he sensed some form of jealousy emitting from him, however, it quickly dispersed when Zoro wrapped an arm around the blonde’s waist. Sanji looked away, feeling as though he was spying on an intimate moment.

 

He wasn't sure whether he had dreamt the whole thing, but he had hoped those people were real at least and that he could meet them again someday to thank them. Maybe even cook for the other Sanji in return. 

 

He looked across to the little furniture he had in his cell and saw his last attempt at cooking; a pile of mess on the floor. He regretted doubting himself beforehand and feeling the want to give up. Feeling some fiery determination, he moved over to the mess and started to clean up. The desire to try again crashed over him like a wave at sea, dragging him further into the unknown. It was terrifying, but something he desperately wanted to do. Besides, would have to practice a lot more before he could serve anything to those people, they deserved the best. 

  
  
  
  
  


They came for him again.

 

He still couldn't fight back.

 

Yet when Reiju came down to patch him up like she sometimes did, he didn't feel hopeless or lost. He felt determined. He wanted to leave the place that was called home but no longer felt like it. It had stopped being his home ever since his mother died.

 

Reiju looked over at his another failed attempt to learn how to cook. He didn’t feel like a failure though; he felt accomplished in trying again. 

 

“You never learn…”

 

Sanji yanked his arm away from his sister, feeling the passion to cook once more burning in his chest. He never wanted that feeling to ever distinguish again. 

He couldn't stay here any longer.

 

“Reiju, I…”

 

Sanji was shaking, unable to control his need to want to be able to do this. He stood up and looked at his sister through his helmet's razor.

 

“I want to be a cook!”

 

Reiju reacted like she always did, telling him to not tell her something so foolish.

 

But he couldn't go on being here. He needed to escape. He needed to be able to live.

 

Tears started to roll down his cheeks and his body started to tremble. Images of his father flooded his head and all the hurt he had caused him. He didn't want that life anymore.

 

“If I can.. run away… here in East Blue…” Sanji started, barely being able to form the words he was desperate to say, “I'll never… have to see… Dad's face again, right?” 

 

Reiju did something he didn't anticipate then. She grabbed hold of two bars and pulled them apart, creating an exit for her brother.

 

“You only have one chance. Don't ruin it!”

 

Sanji stood there stricken, yet he didn't want to waste any more time, so he stepped out of his cell, feeling the pull towards freedom and hope.

 

He wasn't going to allow himself to look back.

**Author's Note:**

> this has been something i have been working on for a while and i didn't intend to have an explanation for how the time travel was possible bc i just really wanted fetus sanji to meet his future self :>
> 
> thanks to ariana who went through the pain of reading it for me! consider this a dedication to you <3


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